Space shuttle Enterprise, mounted atop a NASA 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, is seen as it flies over the Hudson River and New York City April 27 prior to landing at Kennedy International Airport after a ferry flight from Dulles Airport near Washington, D.C. (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

NASA's 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft 905 with space shuttle Enterprise mounted atop landed at New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport after a spectacular low-level flyover of New York City on Friday, April 27.

The piggyback pair flew at a relatively low altitude over various parts of the New York City metropolitan area and near a variety of landmarks, including the Statue of Liberty and the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum. The Federal Aviation Administration coordinated the flight with NASA.

Space shuttle Enterprise, mounted atop a NASA 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, is seen behind the Statue of Liberty during a flyover of New York April 27. (NASA photo) › View larger photo Several weeks following the arrival, Enterprise will be "demated" from the 747 and placed on a barge that will be moved by tugboat up the Hudson River to the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum in June. The shuttle will be lifted by crane and placed on the flight deck of the Intrepid where it will be on exhibit to the public starting this summer in a temporary climate-controlled pavilion. The Intrepid continues work on a permanent exhibit facility to showcase Enterprise that will enhance the museum's space-related exhibits and education curriculum.

Enterprise, the prototype space shuttle used to prove the shuttle's handling qualities during the approach and landing tests in 1977 at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center and for other developmental tests during the early years of the shuttle program, had previously been on display since 1985 at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center adjacent to Dulles Airport near Washington, D.C.

For more information about NASA's transfer of space shuttles to museums, visit: